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In Christ, Mark
In Christ, Mark
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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.
“Now therefore say to the people of
Judah and those living in Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am
preparing a disaster for you and devising a plan against you. So turn from your
evil ways, each one of you, and reform your ways and your actions.’”
Jeremiah 18:11
This ends today’s reading from God's holy
word. Thanks be to God.
We are all sinners.
This should be no surprise to anyone unless you have no
moral compass or have decided to divorce yourself spiritually from the word of
God and the truths about mankind found within.
It all began at the fall when Adam and Eve, creation’s
first human beings, conscientiously decided to violate God’s command and live
in disobedience. Their wicked faux pas resulted in sin entering the world and
it has afflicted every man and woman ever since, placing them at odds with an
almighty God who hates sin and sends judgment on those who commit it.
Thus, the battle lines were drawn and have never been
erased. Through the ages, mortal men and women have sinned against their Master
God who despises such actions and as a result, they have suffered the harsh consequences
of His judgment as a result, consequences that included death.
Given all this and the way we are at odds with God, how
does anyone stand a chance? It’s a miracle anyone of us are still around, a
testimony to one other absolute truth about God:
He is compassionate, patient, and merciful.
You see, God knows our sin condition and He has offered us
a way to put it into remission. In today’s scripture verse from Jeremiah 18, we
find the Lord sending direction to His people to that end through His prophet.
Look again at those words here:
“Now therefore say to the people of Judah and those living in
Jerusalem, ‘This is what the Lord says: Look! I am preparing a disaster for you
and devising a plan against you. So turn from your evil ways, each one of you,
and reform your ways and your actions.’” Jeremiah 18:11
The people of Judah and Jerusalem were not attempting to
mask their sins nor did they seem to care that they were doing it in plain
sight of Him. Their actions and ways showed they had little respect or interest
in following God’s commands as they openly worshipped false gods and idols,
even going as far as constructing altars to those gods in God’s holy temple of
Jerusalem where He expected them to worship Him and Him alone. As we read this
passage, we find He was fed up and His words tell us as much:
“Look! I am preparing a disaster for you
and devising a plan against you.”
God had devised plans to punish His people, plans that
would not just be a simple slap on the wrist but rather bring destruction on
them and their land. But note here that the Lord was willing to give them a
chance to keep that from happening. In fact, we all have that chance even today
as we stand before God as sinners in the crosshairs of His consequences.
What is the nature of the chance God gives us?
Go back to our verse for the day to find out.
“So turn from your evil ways, each one of
you, and reform your ways and your actions.”
Did you catch that?
The Lord tells His people and all of us as well that the
way to get back in good graces with Him after sin is to turn from evil ways and
reform. In fact, if you look at the definition of the word “repent”, you will
find it means to turn away from sin and show a heartfelt desire to change one’s
ways. That’s where the reformation comes in for at the very heart of
reformation is change and in this case, the Lord is talking about a person
changing to be who He wants them to be, a believer grounded in His
righteousness and holiness.
The reason the Israelites were staring down the barrel of
God’s judgment is that they had decided to live apart from Him. In order to get
back to where they needed to be, they would have to come back to Him and commit
to following His will, way, and word. His desires would have to be theirs or
else.
So this brings us to the questions God’s word presents today?
How do we stand before God as He examines the way we are
living?
Are we in need of turning away from evil ways and reforming
our actions?
Or are we living in obedience to His word, will, and way,
actively pursuing and finding His righteousness as we submit to His guidance
and direction?
The way we answer the final two questions will go a long
way toward defining our relationship with an infinitely almighty God. The first
places us on the road to judgment and destruction while the second leads us to
the place where we live in God’s favor, enjoying the blessings that come with
that kind of spiritual living.
In what place are you today?
Amen.
In
Christ,
Mark
PS: Feel free to leave a comment and please share this with anyone you feel might be blessed by it.
Send any prayer requests to OurChristianWalk@aol.com
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